MPAA threatens to disconnect Google HQ

For in-house movie piracy

The MPAA has reportedly sent Google "dozens" of warnings against copyright infringement over the past few months, and could now be threatening the company with full-on disconnection.

These copyright infringements seem to be mainly perpetrated through Google's external WiFi hotspots, but it seems that some staff members have also been using BitTorrent to share and download movies.

This comes in spite of Google's latest pledge to combat online piracy by experimenting with tweaking search results so authorised content is more accessible and removing piratical terms from the site's auto-complete.

Violation

The letters, sent on behalf of film studios like Paramount and Columbia, warn that users on Googles' IP addresses are downloading and watching movies illegally.

More than that, the latest notices include threats that Google's internet services could be cut off:

"Copyright infringement also violates your ISP's terms of service and could lead to limitation or suspension of your Internet service. You should take immediate action to prevent your Internet account from being used for illegal activities."

Apparently the last batch of notices sent were regarding illegal copies of The Green Hornet and The Fighter.

It could be worse for Google; its staff could have been watching Gnomeo and Juliet.